Between Swells: Quit monkeying around

The battle of two cities, Leon vs Granada. Through my basic Lonely Planet history of Nicaragua, these two cities have always had a rivalry. Politically, artistically, economically, etc. Either one was meant to be the capital city but instead, as some odd compromise, Managua was awarded the title. Now, to the average tourist, which city is better depends on what you like. We left Leon after seven days or so and felt content and accomplished. Food great, accommodation great, people great. Then we took a trip to Granada which many if not everyone we met on our trip said was nicer.

First impression of Granada is that it is very colourful. All the buildings are painted bright colours, horse-drawn carriages everywhere and people bustling. It was a nice vibe. We found our place which was next to the locals market. It is the sister hostel to Lazy Bones where we stayed in Leon. It was called Oasis which was not as laid back and a little more traveled but still cozy and nice. Unloaded our stuff and off to get some food where we realized we are back in the tourist plague. Everywhere we went, “Taxi, Taxi”, sunglasses for sale and little arts and crafts. The food is back to Costa expensive and people constantly trying to rip you off. At least when someone tries to scam you here it is for at most 2$.

So Leon vs Granada - I would say I enjoyed Leon more for the atmosphere but Granada is more picturesque. We spent our first day walking around and checking out the sites. Second day we went for a four hour kayak though the islets of Granada on Lake Nicaragua. The islets are a group of over 360 small islands that were formed thousands of years ago when a volcanic erupted. Many of the islands are occupied by local families, others with nice houses from rich Nicaraguans or ex-pats. Beautiful scenery and going by kayak instead of boat meant we could go into hidden places and see more wildlife. Our guide showed us some interesting stuff and we ended up at a monkey island. As we arrived you could see them swinging from the branches and playing around. We pulled up to the rocks and hand-fed them some fruits and orchids that we had picked. Very cool and definitely made the expensive excursion worth it.

VIDEO

Monkey 1

Monkey 2

Monkey 3

Thursday was our journey to Masaya which is essentially a market town. We got dropped off in the 'new market' which took us by surprise. It wasn't what we pictured at all. Totally unorganized, dirty and more or less mayhem. We managed to weasel our way through the market jungle of people and unscathed, walked to the old market where it is all arts and crafts. It was interesting to see how they do business. I would get quoted a price, then without saying a word, they would say "well...we could sell it for a special price and give you a discount". One woman said three bucks for something and as I was reaching inside my wallet to give her the money, she dropped the price by fifty cents. Laura and I purchased our first souvenir of the trip, an abstract painting by a local artist. It shall be displayed once we have a fixed address that is not a storage unit or our parents house.

Friday was going to be a hike up a volcano but it was raining so we went to the gym and then got a massage. I think they weren't RMT's when my masseuse climbed onto me and crawled up my legs and back. I don't get massages very often so I was relaxed and content. Laura, a seasoned veteran on the table, said laughingly that “this was the worst”. We compared notes and we got the exact same treatment. If I had a camera there would be a picture of some Nicaraguan lady kneeling on Laura's back. Did I forget to mention that 'her' lady was possibly 65!

Count down to Bali has commenced in my mind as I am starting to get the itch to get back in the water and the swell has been pumping there. We are currently on Ometepe Island after a six hour journey of wrong information (there is no Saturday ferry from Granada anymore), buses, taxis and ferries. We are hanging out here until Tuesday where we will make our way to Managua for the night, meet up with Laura's Aunt Ann and fly off to the Corn Islands.